Dennis McCann: Good thing he didn't say "Retreat, Wisconsin"

Originally published Nov. 28, 2008

I have admitted in the past a tendency to go off Cliff Clavin-like by trying to impress people with knowledge that leaves them, well, unimpressed. I mean, I can bring a dinner party to its knees by raising arcane points about Wisconsin history or quizzing others with questions like “Which of the following Wisconsin counties – Adams, Washington, Lincoln or Grant – was NOT named for an American president?* Toss that one into a conversation and the next question is hey, where is everybody going?

Still, it would be wrong to let this week pass on into the Christmas season without acknowledging its place in Wisconsin lore. It was this week in 1863 when Wisconsin won a slogan for the ages, and now the next time you hear “On, Wisconsin” you can impress your friends and neighbors with the story, as well.

“On, Wisconsin” was first uttered on a Civil War battlefield by a young – in fact, still a teenager – Union officer named Arthur McArthur Jr. During the battle for Missionary Ridge outside of Chattanooga, McArthur watched the Wisconsin flag bearer fall and immediately stepped into his place, hoisting the flag and urging his soldiers forward by yelling “On, Wisconsin. On, Wisconsin.”

Stirred by his call and his bravery, McArthur’s man rallied, which was a good thing for McArthur. Gen. Grant, watching the attack through field glasses, was said to have told an aide to promote McArthur if the attack succeeded – but to court martial him if it failed.

Of course, it did not fail, or University of Wisconsin athletic teams would have had a sorry excuse for a fight song. McArthur, who became known as “The Boy Colonel,” later was awarded the Medal of Honor for his exploits that day, and many years after that his son, Gen. Douglas MacArthur (the spelling changed somewhere along the way), also received a Medal of Honor for his service.

Anyway, that’s the story. I think it’s nice to have a state slogan born from heroism rather than one crafted by some marketing group, so on the 145th anniversary of its first use let’s all raise our voice in another “On, Wisconsin.”

* Oh, it’s Grant, which was named not for the general but, according to Robert Gard and L.G. Sorden’s “Romance of Wisconsin Place Names,” for “a famous trapper and Indian trader” who lived in a cabin along a river in the Wisconsin territory. Grant’s cooking utensil was a brass kettle that he wore under his cap on his head. One day, the account goes, he encountered a war party of Winnebago Indians. One brave struck Grant on his head with a tomahawk, “producing no other effect than a sharp ring from the kettle.”

Can’t wait to tell that one at the next party, can you?